Right then everyone! Dan here and today marks a significant milestone – 38 days post adult circumcision. It’s been around 5 weeks and 3 days since my operation at 12 noon on 11th September 2025, so roughly 10 days since my last update. And what a 10 days it’s been!
Catching Up: What’s Happened Since Week 4
Last Update Recap In my last update at the 4-week mark, I touched on several key points: emotional eating struggles, increasing my walking, keeping watch for infection signs (that gunk I mentioned), and preparing for my trip to Wales. Well, I’ve got updates on all of those fronts!
The Wales Adventure: I Made It!
Wednesday 15th October – Journey Day I made it to Wales in the evening of Wednesday 15th October! The trip was a slight challenge during adult circumcision recovery – carrying a suitcase and backpack whilst navigating the notoriously steep hills of Wales isn’t exactly what the doctor ordered at 5 weeks post-op. But I accomplished it!
Testing My Healing This journey was genuinely a good test of where I’m at in the circumcision healing process. If I couldn’t manage traveling with luggage and hills at this stage, I’d have been quite concerned. But my body held up well, which gave me real confidence about my recovery progress.
The ‘Gunk’ Situation: Fibrin and Serous Fluid Explained
Continued Discharge Post-Travel Over the following days in Wales, I noticed that the ‘gunk’ – what an unpleasant word – continued for a couple of days. Generally, this would appear after I’d been out for a walk during my adult circumcision recovery.
What Research Revealed From research, this discharge is just fibrin, old scab material, and serous fluid naturally occurring during the final healing stages of adult circumcision. It wasn’t constant – it happened once each morning after a walk. For the past 2 days, it hasn’t happened again, which is a genuinely positive sign that healing is completing!
When to Worry vs When Not To This is important for anyone at this stage of circumcision recovery: occasional clear or pale yellow discharge after activity is normal. What’s NOT normal would be foul-smelling discharge, bright red blood, increasing pain, or discharge that’s constant throughout the day regardless of activity.
The 20,000 Steps Achievement! đ
Thursday 16th October Milestone I hit 20,023 steps on Thursday 16th October! What an absolute achievement that was! Going from barely walking to hitting 20k steps in just over 5 weeks post adult circumcision surgery feels genuinely incredible, especially after all the complications.
Weekly Average Progress Over the last 7 days (13th to 19th October), I’ve been averaging 11k steps a day. That’s a solid, sustainable level that’s not overworking the healing tissue but keeping me active and mobile during the final stages of circumcision recovery.
What This Means for Recovery Being able to hit 20k steps means I’m essentially back to my pre-surgery activity levels. This is a massive psychological boost as much as a physical achievement – it signals that normal life is genuinely resuming after adult circumcision.
Main Changes Since Last Update (Week 4 to Week 5+)
1. Fibrin and Serous Fluid Around Incision Line As mentioned, this has been present but is now decreasing. It’s part of the final healing process as the circumcision incision completes its knitting together. Not pleasant, but completely normal and temporary.
2. Nearly Fully Knitted Incision Site The site is nearly completely knitted together! There’s still some healing needed on the left side, which is probably due to me healing slower in that area – likely because of the infection I had earlier in recovery. The body prioritises infected areas differently during healing.
3. Walking Normally Again! I’m able to walk normally again during adult circumcision recovery! Though I still get the occasional sting or ‘prick’ feeling, which is actually down to hair regrowth from the pre-surgery shaving. It’s amazing how something as simple as hair growing back can create noticeable sensations during healing.
4. Dissolvable Stitches Finally Falling Out Part of a dissolvable stitch fell out when I was cleaning on Wednesday 15th October. It was red and thin – a bit alarming when you first see it! A bit more fell out the following day during wound care. This is completely normal at 5+ weeks post adult circumcision.
5. Sitting Comfort Improving I’m slightly more comfortable sitting down now, though I still need to sit down slower than I did previously during circumcision recovery. Quick, careless sitting can still cause discomfort, so I’m being mindful about it.
6. Wind Sensitivity Discovery When it’s windy, it can cause some sensitivity during adult circumcision healing – the wind presses your clothing against you, creating friction and awareness of the healing area. Something I genuinely never expected to be a factor in recovery!
7. Mental Break from Recovery Focus The operation and healing haven’t been on my mind the last few days since I’ve been on holiday. Things are progressing very well, and getting away has provided a genuine mental break from the constant monitoring and worry. This has been incredibly valuable for my overall wellbeing.
8. Circumcision Style Identification I believe that the style of adult circumcision I’ve had is not high and tight, rather low and tight. This would make sense given I had extensive BXO and phimosis. The surgeon likely needed to remove less inner foreskin to address the condition effectively.
The Psychiatrist Appointment: ADHD and Surgery Recovery
Medication Review Results I had my psychiatrist medication review for my ADHD (combined type), and it was positive overall. He’s happy with my progress over the year, which was reassuring to hear.
Recent Cognitive Issues I’d been experiencing recent issues with forgetfulness and inability to concentrate as well as previously, amongst other cognitive challenges. Naturally, I was worried this meant my ADHD medication wasn’t working properly anymore.
The Surgery Recovery Connection The psychiatrist put these issues down to me having spent weeks since my recent adult circumcision operation looking at my body more closely than I would normally. This adds significant stress, and I’m only noting some of these cognitive issues because I’m hyperfocused on my body and the fact I’m still healing.
Validation and Relief This explanation was genuinely validating. Recovery from adult circumcision isn’t just physical – the mental load of constant monitoring, worry about complications, and disruption to normal routines absolutely impacts cognitive function. It’s temporary, related to the stress of recovery, not a medication failure.
Understanding Low and Tight Circumcision Style
What Does This Mean? For those unfamiliar, circumcision styles vary based on how much inner foreskin is removed and where the scar line sits:
- High and Tight: More inner foreskin preserved, scar line higher up the shaft
- Low and Tight: Less inner foreskin, scar line closer to the corona (head)
- High and Loose: More inner foreskin, looser remaining skin
- Low and Loose: Less inner foreskin, looser remaining skin
Why Low and Tight for BXO? With extensive BXO (Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans), the surgeon likely needed to remove more affected tissue. BXO typically affects the foreskin extensively, so a low cut ensures all problematic tissue is removed, reducing recurrence risk. This makes complete sense for my medical situation.
Reflections on 5+ Weeks of Recovery
The Journey So Far 38 days feels both incredibly long and surprisingly quick. Long because of the daily wound care, constant monitoring, and complications along the way. Quick because I can now do things like travel to Wales, walk 20k steps, and live relatively normally again after adult circumcision.
Complications Don’t Define Success Despite the infection, the leg injury, the medication mishaps, the cancer scare, and various other setbacks during circumcision recovery – I’m healing well. My body has done the remarkable work it needed to do, even with obstacles along the way.
The Mental Health Component What I’ve learned most at this stage is that surgical recovery is profoundly psychological as well as physical. The constant body monitoring, the hypervigilance about symptoms, the worry about complications – all of this creates genuine mental strain that affects other areas of life.
Practical Insights for Week 5+ Recovery
If You’re At This Stage:
- Fibrin/serous fluid discharge after activity is normal
- Dissolvable stitches may still be falling out – this is expected
- Hair regrowth can cause surprising sensations
- Wind and weather can affect comfort levels
- Mental breaks from monitoring help psychological wellbeing
- Travel is generally possible with appropriate precautions
- Near-normal activity levels are achievable
What Still Requires Caution:
- Sitting down quickly (still need slower, careful movement)
- Tight clothing in windy conditions
- Overconfidence about being “fully healed” (still healing!)
- Ignoring new symptoms that seem concerning
- Comparing your timeline to others’ experiences
Expanding Content: Beyond Circumcision Recovery
New Blog Direction I’ll be adding more blogs about other aspects of my journey of personal healing and personal development to my website in the coming days. These will run alongside the circumcision recovery posts.
Why the Expansion? This recovery journey has highlighted how interconnected physical health, mental health, ADHD management, emotional eating, and personal development truly are. There’s value in exploring these topics more broadly for anyone on their own healing journey, whatever form that takes.
The Road Ahead: Week 6 and Beyond
Entering the Final Healing Phase At 38 days post adult circumcision, I’m entering what should be the final major healing phase. The incision is nearly complete, activity levels are back to normal, and the focus shifts from acute healing to final scar maturation over the coming months.
6-12 Month Timeline Reminder While the main healing happens in 4-7 weeks, complete scar settling takes 6-12 months. The appearance will continue to refine, sensitivity will continue to normalize, and the final cosmetic result emerges gradually during this longer timeframe.
Optimism for Full Recovery I’m genuinely optimistic about reaching full recovery from adult circumcision. The worst is definitively behind me, complications have resolved, and I’m living relatively normally again. That’s worth celebrating at 5 weeks and 3 days post-op!
P.S. – If you’re at a similar stage of adult circumcision recovery and worried about discharge after walking, please know it’s likely just normal fibrin and serous fluid! The body continues healing work even when things look “finished” from the outside. Also, if you have ADHD and are recovering from surgery, be kind to yourself about cognitive struggles during healing – they’re temporary and related to the stress of recovery!
Thanks for following along to day 38! The Wales adventure was genuinely wonderful, and it felt amazing to prove to myself that I’m genuinely recovering well from adult circumcision despite all the complications along the way.
If you have any questions you’d like me to answer based on my experience or research, please ask below. Let’s support each other through these recovery journeys!
Until the next blog post!
Dan
